It Was The Biggest Bug Ever

In spite of being the tiredest human being on the planet this morning I was excited to get to WVEC and do “Weekends With Joe and Julie.”

I get to the studio, we finish up with SPCA Sunday and the staff begs me to sing a little bit for them. After a rousing rendition of “Tomorrow” (quite possibly the most obnoxious Broadway song EVER) I settle back in my chair to attempt to stay awake before I am on camera.

Julie is to my left in the pod doing the weather forecast and is excited because it’s not going to be 150 degrees for the rest of the week. As she is speaking out the corner of my eye I see a bug flying around the lights.

Now let me be clear- this was a BUG. Not a gnat or a mosquito- it was about the size of those big bumblebees you see. And it’s flying around bumping into the lights. And every time it bumps you can hear it. Buzz-buzz-buzz- bump. And I know she is going to see it and she is going to FREAK OUT.

Thankfully Julie does not see the bug until the pictures are up on the screen. So what the viewers saw was a chart with the weather for the week while listening to Julie calmly explain the weather patterns. What I saw was Julie calmly explaining the weather patterns as she ducks around the studio with her eyes wildly searching for the bug and her hands are flying around (this is what a professional can do on the air). She practically jumps the counter and heads to the far corner of the studio.

The moment she finishes talking she flees the studio. By now the camera guy, teleprompter operator and Joe Flanagan (the anchor) have seen the bug. Unfortunately this is not when we cut to commercial- it’s now cutting to the longest bank of stories in the broadcast. So while Joe VERY calmly reports a murder-suicide, the traffic at the beach, a bridge closing and about the free water stations in town we are now all watching the bug.

Kwame (the camera operator) begins chasing the thing around the studio with the paddles we use to keep time. He is trying to swat it without hitting any equipment, run in front of the camera or distract Joe too much who is still having to calmly and respectfully talk. Joe is RIGHT on the edge of losing it and having to concentrate so hard with the gymnastics going on around him. (If only I had my iPhone to record this). If Kwame went to London he would take home the gold for his floor routine this morning.

Finally for some reason the bug decides to land on the ground right by Julie’s desk.

Now I have to decide what to do. I am NOT a bug squisher and this is a BIG bug with an exo-skeleton. Usually I am a “save the bug take it outside person.” However Joe is barely maintaining his composure and Julie will be doing the weather in the hall if this isn’t taken care of. So I jump up from my chair and “crunch”… step on the bug and try to kill it mercifully.

We finally break for commercial and everyone in the room dies laughing. The poor guys in the sound booth hear us all talking at once and can’t figure out what is going on. I get a high five from Kwame and Julie clasps my hand with gratitude. Moments later we go live on the air to talk about free Slurpees and free Chick-fil-A.

So now along with coupon queen and singer I can add bug killer to list of uses at WVEC.

Another great rescue from A Frugal Chick!

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